MLP: Playing with Fire
by CJ Ambrose
Summary: Twilight, Casey, and the rest of their friends go on more crazy and exciting adventures, some that take them even way beyond Equestria than ever before! But there's a certain saying that goes "if you play with fire, you get burned", and there are some things that you just can't plan for. Takes place after "An Epic Adventure"; sequel to "Seeds of the Past". (Currently on hiatus)
1. Chapter 1

**MLP: Playing With Fire**

 _Chapter 1 - Preface_

 _Disclaimer: Hasbro and DHX Media are the rightful owners of "My Little Pony". I just own the story._

 _Author's Note: Now, I know what you're probably wondering - "Why are you publishing this now when_ _ **An Epic Adventure**_ _isn't finished yet?"_

 _Well, that's because… even though that story takes place technically after_ _ **Seeds of the Past,**_ _it's basically a novelization of the actual movie, but with additional stuff… and my stories usually take place in between or after the show's actual episodes._

 _In other words,_ _ **An Epic Adventure**_ _is, like, a mini-sequel/spin-off story, whereas this story (and the ones that follow) are the actual continuation of what happened after the ending of_ _ **Seeds.**_

 _Now, yes, I will be finishing the other story, but I'm also going to be doing this one, as well… and cause it gives me something to do as we wait for season 8 to come next year._

 _So, without further ado, let's check in on our pony friends, shall we?_

* * *

"... and I do believe this is the longest that you've gone without speaking, Princess Twilight."

After saying that, Evil Stardust quietly waited for the chained-up and bruised alicorn in front of him to finally speak, but she simply shook her head, which caused the dark-gold Earth Pony to sigh in disappointment.

"Such a shame… I mean, it was fun to not hear your voice in the beginning, but at this point, it's really getting on my damn nerves."

Making his way over to stand in front of Twilight, Evil Stardust's eyes shined dangerously as he asked, "So, do you want to bring me your special somepony the _easy_ way, or the **hard** way?"

The purple alicorn refused to speak.

"Fine… it looks like we'll have to do it the hard ways, then," replied Evil Stardust, and in one swift move, he delivered a slap to the right side of Twilight's face, which made her let out a small yelp of pain while he gritted his teeth in frustration.

" _Where_ _ **is**_ _he, Twilight?"_ exclaimed the sinister pony, but Twilight continued to remain silent. " _Alright, princess, if we're going to continue playing this little game…"_

Placing a hoof on the back of her head, Evil Stardust forcibly brought Twilight closer to him, and a sly grin appeared on his face. "I guess I'll have to start having some of my own fun."

Then, just when it seemed like he was about to have a passionate kiss with the alicorn, they were interrupted by a voice that came from an entering blue-violet Pegasus.

"Look who decided to join us…"

She tossed the body of another pony at the hooves of Evil Stardust, who let out a chuckle before saying, "Well, if it isn't the pony who made all of this possible. I was wondering when you'd show up, Casey… but not much of a successful princess rescue, though, I'll admit that."

As for Twilight, she didn't know whether to be happy about the roughed-up pony lying in front of her… or disappointed since he was part of the reason she, herself, was captured in the first place.

"I didn't come just for her, you a-hole," muttered Casey, and he glanced over at the Pegasus that had brought him in as he stood up, while Evil Stardust just rolled his eyes.

"Whatever… now, where was I? Oh, yeah…" He turned his attention back over to Twilight, and spoke to her in a threatening tone. "If I don't see your beloved Warrior in the next three-and-a-half hours, then I'll make it so that he never sees his beloved **goddess** _ever_ again… so, I'll ask you one last time - _Where… is…_ "

"I can get him to come here, Stardust."

Everypony in the room looked at Casey after he said that, and Evil Stardust raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Casey nodded his head, and the dark-gold Earth Pony looked back over at Twilight, who was still not speaking. "Well, seeing as the princess is choosing to be an effing mute… why not? I mean, I'd love to see the look on his face when he sees everything that I've achieved, and that **you** played a major part in all of this."

"Great," replied the light-orange pony, talking like he wanted to get this over with. "But I need to be alone with Twilight, in order for it to work."

A smirk appeared on Evil Stardust's face, and he nodded while starting to make his way out of the room. "Alright, then… I need the time to work on my machine anyway… Emerl, let's go."

Once the sinister pony was gone, the Pegasus that had brought Casey in walked over to Twilight, and a sly grin appeared on her face. "You know, I can see now why these two have a version of you as their special somepony… which is why it sucks that you're taken."

Twilight just gave her a confused look, and Emerl began to walk away, as well, but she paused to smirk at Casey. "Same thing applies to you, hot shot."

"I'm sorry, which Emerl am I talking to again?" replied Casey, who frowned while the pegasus let out a chuckle before leaving the room. "So, um, are you okay?"

The chained-up alicorn gave him a poker faced expression, and he said, "Right… well, then… I hope this works."

Reaching into one of his cloak's pockets, Casey pulled out a small flask, which contained a potion that his special somepony had created, and he shuddered in disgust from the after-taste before continuing his "conversation" with Twilight.

"I know you don't want to talk right now, but I do need you to listen because-"

"Why?" answered the Princess of Friendship.

Casey quickly became silent since he figured that Twilight was going to remain silent, and the purple alicorn repeated her question. "Why?"

"Because… I…" He let out a sigh, and replied, "I'm not so sure anymore, to be honest."

A small sign of confusion appeared on Twilight's face as she said, "Well, what exactly led to all of **this** happening?"

As Casey's eyes slowly started to change colors, the young Earth Pony said, "Let's just say that I'm glad he gave you a three hour deadline because there's a **lot** that I need to talk about… now, it started when the four us were saying our last goodbyes during the last few hours of my birthday…"


	2. Stardust's Goodbye, Part 1

**MLP: Playing With Fire**

Chapter 2 - Stardust's Goodbye, Part 1

 _Disclaimer: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to Hasbro and DHX Media._

* * *

(Takes place sometime after the ending of **Seeds of the Past** )

 _Unknown_

"You… are by far… the worst excuse for a villain that I have ever seen before in my entire lifetime."

Inside of a darkened cavern, a bruised, chained-up, and battered Anti-Stardust angrily muttered some words underneath his breath after listening to the individual who was standing a few feet away from him.

"How is it that you and your friends were so easily defeated by an average human being, as well as an average Earth Pony?"

Anti-Stardust continued muttering to himself, and this led to the individual in front of him to make a small nod of the head, which was the go-ahead signal for one of the two henchman standing by the dark-gold pony to activate his deadly electrical prod.

" _Aaaaaagggghhh_!" yelled Anti-Stardust, as the servant rammed the tips of the prod into his side, sending a thousand volts of electricity into his roughed-up body, and this continued for a while until the Boss motioned for him to stop.

Unable to move, the young pony panted, body convulsing with aftershocks from the attack while the Boss shook his head in disappointment, and scowled at him.

"You've failed me too many times, Jack… you were unable to kill your other self, as well as his friend, after Rowan and Elixir's attempts backfired... you couldn't take over **any** version of Equestria… and you allowed the world of your original host to continue thriving…"

Once he was able to speak again, Anti-Stardust coughed a few times, and he said, "If that's how it'll be, then get someone else to do your fin dirty work… because I'm never dealing with those two ever again."

Then, the young pony stood up, and he glared at the individual standing in front of him with a look that meant he'd had enough of this.

"So, this is what's going to happen, Xenos… you're going to free me from these chains, give me back my friends, and once we're all gone, you can go **f*** yourself**."

Unfortunately, things didn't turn out the way he'd hoped for… because after a moment of silence, a sly smirk appeared on Xenos' face.

"See, that's where you're wrong, Jack… you are done when **I** say that you're done… but first, you **are** going to pay for all of your recent failures… so, let's bring out your friends, shall we?"

 _Whoosh!_

Suddenly, lights were shown in another part of the cavern, and Anti-Stardust saw that his girlfriend, along with the rest of the Anti-Mane 6, had been turned into statues, as well a large mallet lying on the ground in front of them.

"So, tell me, Jack," said Xenos, who made his way over to the wooden tool, and slowly picked it up. "Whom shall I break first?"

The dark-gold pony shook his head, and cried, "If you do one f ********* thing to them, I will - _aaaaggggghhhhh!_ "

Both of Xenos' henchman uses their metal prods on Anti-Stardust, and Xenos replied, "I guess I'll have to decide, then. How about Fluttershy?"

Before the electrocuted pony could even say anything, Xenos raised up the mallet, and brought it down onto the statue of Fluttershy, causing it to smash into hundreds of tiny little pieces.

" _You… f***ing - aaaaaggghhh!"_ He tried to stop Xenos, but was stopped by the continuous jabs from his cronies' metal prods.

"This is all on **you** , Jack," replied Xenos, speaking in a calm but threatening tone. "But I'll tell you what - why don't I get this over with so you don't have to be here that long."

Then, while continuing to be electrocuted, Anti-Stardust watched Xenos destroy the statues of Applejack, Rarity, and -

" **No!** " yelled the Earth Pony, after it seemed like Xenos was about to smash the statue of Twilight's anti-self, and a small smile appeared on the cruel mastermind's face as he motioned for the two servants to stop using their prods. "Please… don't kill Twilight…"

With eyes now becoming watery, Anti-Stardust looked up at Xenos, and begged for him to spare the alicorn's life. "I… I'll do anything… just don't… not Twilight, please."

To his horror, a sighing Xenos shook his head, and replied, "I'm sorry, Jack, but this is what needs to be done… if it helps, you can blame the 'Warrior of Twilight' for what I'm about to do."

Then, despite Anti-Stardust's protests, Xenos used the mallet to break the statue of his special somepony in half, and as the pieces hit the ground, with the edges breaking off into several tiny pieces, something snapped inside of the now-speechless pony, who could feel the tears sliding down both sides of his face.

" _You… killed her… you... f***ing asshole…"_

As soon as he said those words, one of Xenos' servants prepared to shock him yet again, but the loss of his girlfriend was the final straw for the alternate version of Stardust, so in one swift move, he broke apart his chains, forcibly took the electric prod from the servant, and with a cold look in his eyes, he said, "Let's see how **you** like it, you son of a b ******* ch."

Before the servant could say anything else, Anti-Stardust jammed the electric prod into his chest, and made it so that the electricity would continuously stay on, which then brought him over to the other servant.

" _Guess who's next?_ "

A few seconds later, while the two servants were quickly losing their lives via electricity, a furious Anti-Stardust glared at Xenos, who slowly began to applaud the Earth Pony.

"Now, _that_ is what I like to see, Jack… and as a reward for coming back to your senses…"

Xenos snapped his fingers, and Anti-Stardust watched the alternate versions of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash return back to their normal state.

"Also, here's something that can be used to help you out on your next attempt to destroy your other self and his friend…"

A swirl of magic appeared in the hands of the evil mastermind, and by the time he was in front of Anti-Stardust, the Earth Pony was holding onto a staff that appeared to be a mixture of the ones that belonged to Kronos and Miles.

" _Star_ …?" whispered Anti-Rainbow, who was slowly regaining her conciousness.

With a sinister smirk, Evil Stardust looked up at Xenos, and he replied, "Oh, I know **just** how to take care of them…"


	3. Stardust's Goodbye, Part 2

**My Little Pony: Playing With Fire**

 _Chapter 3 - Stardust's Goodbye, Part 2_

 **Disclaimer:** _Hasbro and DHX Media are the owners of "MLP: FiM", while I own the story, and Stardust Balance belongs to the Warrior of Twilight._

* * *

 _takes place sometime after the ending to "Seeds of the Past"_

"So, you basically… created your own world of Pokémon?"

"Yeah, pretty much… why, you jealous that you didn't come up with it yourself?"

After taking a sip from his bottle of **Coke** , Stardust smirked at his friend, and replied, "Far from it, Casey. I'm more curious about how in the hell you found the time to do all that."

Night had fallen in the world of the light-orange Earth Pony, and because the day was not yet over, he was spending the remaining hours just having a conversation with one of his closest friends.

"Well, uh, you remember that time when we weren't allowed to sleep in our bedrooms, or anywhere in the castle, to be specific?"

Stardust nodded his head. "Yep… had to sleep on a couch in Sunset's apartment that night, but I didn't really mind it that much, to be honest. Does this mean you got sent to-"

"Yup, I got sent to virtual limbo," replied a smiling Casey. "Spent almost an entire day just thinking about a place I would go to do whatever I want, whenever I want… even conjured up a temporary bed for that night, but it sounds like you were fine with just layin' on the couch."

The young Earth Pony rolled his eyes, and said, "Alright, let's move on to something else - what did your Twilight get you for your birthday?"

To his amusement, Casey's face started to turn a little red before giving the answer. "It, uh, wasn't much, to be honest… we just, ah, had a long, heartfelt conversation… followed by, er… us trying to make-out for the time."

" _Trying?_ " repeated Stardust, who was trying his best not to laugh. "What, did you mess up or… something?"

"No, of course not," Casey quickly answered, shaking his head, and was now feeling a little embarassed. "We just… it was our first time, okay? I'm sure you must've felt the same way when you and your Twilight made out for the first time, right?"

Remembering when said event occured back in Anti-Equestria, Stardust just gave a small chuckle. "It's different for everyone, man, that's all I'm going to say."

Casey sighed, and he replied, "Why am I not surprised? Oh, before I forget, I've got to introduce you sometime to this new friend I made that lives in another world… actually, he kinda reminds me of you."

"How so?"

The young pony took a moment to think about it. "Well, he looks a little bit like the way you did when we all got sent to London, but more, um, older, I guess… and he had something called a, uh… oh, what was it…"

"What are you two talking about?" asked Twilight, as she made her way into the library, along with her counterpart, whom Stardust gave a curious look at.

"I feel like I should be asking you the same question… you two were talking longer than us."

His girlfriend simply gave him a smile, and she said, "Just some stuff you'd find rather uninteresting, Jack."

Then, turning her head over to look at Casey, the alicorn asked, "Did you enjoy your birthday today?"

Casey happily nodded his head. "Yup… well, aside from being in a wheelchair, getting my tongue stung by a bee, and Kronos showing up to say that there would be no traveling whatsoever between our worlds starting tomorrow… but other than that, I haven't had a birthday this memorable in a long time."

Twilight's other self smiled at Casey, and said, "Good… which, as always, now brings us…"

"... to the part where we talk about…" added Casey's special somepony.

"... what happens next… probably for the last time," muttered Stardust, with a hint of sadness in his voice, and Casey gave him a confused look.

"Well, it's not like it'll be **the** last time, right? I mean, the last two times we didn't end up seeing each other resulted in Rowan almost wiping out all of the worlds that had another version of you, and Elixir pretty much being this close to ruling Equestria in your world while-"

Noticing Casey's _Omega_ mask lying on the desk nearby, Stardust nodded his head, and said, "Yeah, I remember…"

"It's just that, for some reason, time works differently between our worlds," added Twilight's counterpart, seeing that he still looked confused. "So, for example, a month here for you could be half a year for us."

"Half of a…" replied Casey, sounding surprised, and he also realized what this meant exactly. "So, like what happened the first time… except now you're here to- _gah!_ "

Suddenly, a certain draconequs appeared in between the two friends, and he had an automatic time recorder next to him.

"I'm sorry to intrude on whatever was going on in here, but I would just like to let you know, Twilight, that my shift is over for tonight," said Discord, clocking out as he talked to Casey's girlfriend. "Let me know if I ever need to scare - I mean, watch over your sole prisoner again."

Then, he disappeared in the blink of an eye, and a concerned Twilight said, "Oh, no, I better go check on him…"

"I'm right behind you," replied Stardust's girlfriend, who followed after her counterpart, and that left the two Earth Ponies to just themselves once again.

After letting out a sigh, Casey said, "I know Twilight made her decision on Beck's fate, but sometimes I just…"

"Trust me, I get what you're saying," replied Stardust. "I've felt the same way towards… others that I prefer not to mention at the moment."

Rubbing the back of his neck with a front-hoof, Casey started to chuckle, and said, "I think I can guess who they might be… also, um, I never got to thank you for what you did back when Rowan…"

He gestured to his bandaged hind legs, and a small smile appeared on Stardust's face. "Like I told that a-hole, I'm not a killer… but I decided to make an exception just this once."

"And nobody appreciates that more than I do," replied a sheepish Casey. "Well, along with my Twilight, I'm sure… but, um…"

Taking a look at the time on his wristwatch, Casey was reminded of the fact that Stardust (and his Twilight) had to return to their world before midnight arrived, or else something bad was probably going to happen.

"Do we… or… uh…" said the young pony, who was unsure as to whether or not to embrace Stardust or offer him a hoof-shake, but to his surprise, Stardust provided the answer by giving Casey a hug.

"You take…. take care of yourself, okay?"

Even though Casey couldn't sense the emotions of others like how Stardust could, the light-orange pony could tell by his friend's voice, as well as his own feelings, that this wasn't exactly easy for him to do.

"I will… and, uh, can you make sure that he does the same, Starswirl?"

 _Despite past occurences, I will do the best that I can,_ replied the voice of Stardust's mentor, and his pupil rolled his eyes while moving away from Casey.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it, I practically die almost every other Tuesday…"

 _Well, you've only actually died just a few times, Jack… it's mostly being on the verge of death until something happens to prevent it._

As Stardust activated the Crystal Mirror, a chuckling Casey shook his head, and said, "I'm gonna miss seeing you too, Starswirl… I mean, uh, _hearing_ you."

 _And the same from me to you, as well, Casey… you're certainly not the same pony that you once were on the day you first arrived back in our world so long ago._

Stardust nodded, in agreement, and said, "You know I was **this close** to probably tossing that necklace of yours into the portal you flew into?"

Casey began to laugh, and once he was done, the young pony said, "Good bye, Stardust… untill we meet again?"

"Oh, don't worry about that," replied a smirking Stardust. "You got me into all this that day you showed up in my world… so you aren't getting rid of me that easily."

The two of them shared a quick moment of laughing together until Casey watched his best "guy" friend step through the Crystal Mirror, and a few seconds later, Stardust was gone.

"I wonder if I should've told him about the pil - oh, hey, Princess Twilight."

Making her way into the library, Stardust's girlfriend said, "You don't _always_ have to call me that, Casey… just 'Twilight' is fine."

Casey sheepishly shrugged his shoulders, and replied, "Also, uh… since you don't seem to be **that** angry or irritated… I wanted to tell you again that I'm sorry for, um… thinking you were my Twilight during that whole mess with Elixir…"

To his surprise, Twilight's counterpart just blushed a tiny bit as she said, "It's alright, Casey, I know now what you were going through at the time… and I'm glad that this world's version of me is with someone like you."

"Well… I mean, I'm not like perfect, or… heh, heh…" replied Casey, feeling the same way he used to back when he had first met his Twilight.

Then, his surprise grew when Twilight's other self gave him a hug, as well a quick kiss on the cheek. "Take care, Casey… and happy birthday."

"Uh… t-thanks, Twilight," said a blushing and sheepish Casey, and he watched her go through the mirror, as well, so that she could return to her world.

A few moments later, having again realized that it would be a long time before he would see either of them again, an emotional Casey muttered, "Why can't I cry on the inside like AJ does?"

Wiping away the small tears that were around his eyelids, the young pony began to leave the library when he suddenly let out a small cry of pain.

" _Ow! What the…"_ gasped Casey, placing a hoof on his chest, but the pain only lasted for a few seconds before going away, much to his confusion. "That was… strange…"


	4. New Changes

**MLP: Playing With Fire**

 _Chapter 4 - New Changes_

 _Disclaimer: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is owned by Hasbro and DHX Media, and Beck was created by FanficFan920, who wrote most of his scene in this chapter._

* * *

 _One Month Later_

" _How in the hell did this happen to you?"_

" _Your guess is as good as mine, Rainbow…"_

Anti-Stardust and his two remaining friends were back home in their world's version of Twilight's castle, and while Anti-Pinkie was busy reading through several books that the dark gold pony had obtained, Anti-Rainbow was currently cleaning up all of the blood coming out of the newly-gained scars on the right side of his face.

"Did the other you have something to do with this?"

Anti-Stardust scoffed at his friend's question, and said, "He's not **that** vicious, believe me. All I know is when I tried going to his world, I ended up coming straight back here out of **that** damn thing with half of my face now [BEEP]-ed up."

Looking over at the nearby Crystal Mirror, Anti-Rainbow remained quiet in thought as she threw away yet another blood-covered towel, and as the young pegasus began using another one, Anti-Stardust glanced over at Anti-Pinkie.

"Did you find anything on him yet?"

The saddened pony shook her head, and replied, "I'm trying my best, Star, but aside from what happened in Miles' world, there's nothing in these books that talks about anything that happened in your other self's world, or how he's connected to all of this."

A scowl appeared on Anti-Stardust's face, and he growled, "Well, then, why don't you _try a little HARDER?_ "

Flinching a little at the raised and angered tone in his voice, Anti-Pinkie just nodded her head, and continued to read, but then, she heard Anti-Stardust let out a sigh before saying, "I… I'm sorry, Pinkie… um, just take a break… eat some ice cream or something, I don't know."

"Really?" The young Earth Pony nodded his head. "Yay, awesome! Thank you!"

A few seconds later, she was out of the library, leaving Anti-Rainbow to look at her best friend in confusion, and it didn't take long for him to notice. "What?"

"Uh, I **am** cleaning up the face of **Anti** -Stardust, right?" replied Anti-Rainbow. "You haven't been _that_ nice to her in, like, a really long time."

Anti-Stardust gave out a quick chuckle before saying his response. "Just because that's in my name, Rainbow, doesn't mean I have to be so negative **all** the time."

"Um… okay, I guess," said Anti-Rainbow, who was both surprised and just a tiny bit pleased to hear that. "Would this also have to do with Xenos-"

"Yes, it does," replied Anti-Stardust, in a tone that meant he would prefer not to talk about those events.

However, a smug Anti-Rainbow rolled her eyes, and said, "You do know you probably could've beat the living hell out of him before we left, right? I mean, what you did to those two servants-"

"I appreciate your comments, Rainbow," interrupted Anti-Stardust. "But they were nothing compared to Xenos… maybe if I had the power that my other self has, then that could possibly be the - _ow!"_

After cleaning up the rest of the blood that remained on his face, Anti-Rainbow took a moment to admire her handiwork while Anti-Stardust said, "What now?"

"Nothing, it's just… you don't really look that much like the other you anymore," replied Anti-Rainbow. "Actually, you look more like a badass this way."

Then, she ruffled up the front of his mane, and in a teasing tone, she added, "Still think you ought to do something with this stuff, along with your facial hair-"

"Ha-ha, very funny," said Anti-Stardust, and he was about to say more when he realized how close they were to each other.

 _Huh, I never noticed that her eyes were so..._

It didn't take long for Anti-Rainbow to notice this, as well, but before he could say anything, the young pegasus backed away, with a slight blush on her face.

"I, um, better go make sure Pinkie doesn't eat up the rest of our ice cream."

Then, she was gone before Anti-Stardust could finish getting up out of the chair he'd been sitting in, and the Earth Pony started muttering underneath his breath until he found himself looking at his reflection in the Crystal Mirror.

 _She certainly wasn't kidding about me looking less like my counterpart,_ thought Anti-Stardust, who slowly began to smile.

 _Now that I think about it, why not keep on going?_

Then, he turned his head away from the mirror, and cried out, "Hey, Rainbow!"

" _Yeah?_ "

" _I need you to help me find a razor and a hair clipper!"_

* * *

 _The Next Day_

As he walked through the streets of Ponyville, free at last, Beck let out a sigh of happiness before saying, "I've never been more appreciative of fresh air than how I am right now."

However, he couldn't shake the feeling he was being watched, so Beck looked to his right and to his left, but he didn't see anypony suspicious. "Just get ahold of yourself… it's only cause you were being watched every day inside a dungeon."

Once he arrived back home, the middle-aged Earth Pony took a deep inhale, and let it all out, with a relieved smile on his face.

"Home sweet home." He said, to no one in particular.

And as a newly released prisoner, the black-maned stallion decided the first thing he'd do was to check on his garden.

However, before he could go out his back door, a whisper made it's way to his ears.

 _"You piece of [BEEP]."_

Beck immediately froze in place, and he said, "Alright, who's… who's there? Show yourself."

A cloaked pony appeared behind him, continuing to whisper.

 _"You don't deserve anything."_

"What the...?" Beck said in befuddlement once he turned around.

 _"You don't deserve anypony, not after what you did,"_ the cloaked pony continued to whisper.

Beck shook his head, and replied, "That's not true… wait, what?"

Suddenly, to his surprise, another familiar pony began to walk out of the shadows in his home.

"You thought I wanted to _help_?!" Twilight Sparkle said, standing next to the cloaked pony. "I only did that because I pitied you, you stallion scum."

Beck continued to shake his head, as well as feeling a chill running down his spine. "No..."

"You're worse than Tirek..." growled a frustrated Twilight.

"You were such a nice stallion, to think..."

The alicorn princess rolled her eyes, and she said, "You lost your loved ones, big whoop..."

"Twilight was right, I shouldn't have tried to kill you. Death is too good for [BEEP] like you," exclaimed Casey, now showing to stand next to Twilight, and Beck began to feel more nervous and afraid.

"No… no, no, no…. this… no, this can't be happening," Beck said, trying to turn away but only finding himself being approached by more familiar faces.

Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, Applejack, Spike, Rarity… everyone he'd captured was now gathered in a circle, surrounding the green Earth Pony.

" _Like my sister said, if it were up to us, you wouldn't even be here now."_

" _Maybe we should teach you how it feels to be on the verge of death."_

As the demoralizing comments kept coming, Beck continued to break down, wishing for everything to stop…. but a moment later, he suddenly realized that there was nothing but silence.

"Huh?" wondered Beck, as he uncovered his eyes that he didn't know he covered.

Everyone had stopped speaking, yet they were still there, now staring at him from one side of the house.

 _"Becky, what were you thinking, ya knucklehead?"_

To both his horror and surprise, Beck then turned around to find Night Light, Bright Mac, Buttercup, Carrot, and Chiffon, with Night Light being the one that had just spoken.

 _"You could have just gone to the game yourself, you know? That ever come to mind?"_ Night Light said, talking like it was obvious.

Beck gave a nervous gulp, and he replied, "But we always promised each other that it would be the both of us to go-"

 _"To think we made you Godfather to Pound and Pumpkin..."_ Carrot said.

The feeling of fear continued rising for Beck, who tried to slowly back away, but everyone in the room started to follow him.

 _"Why did you lie to us?"_ Chiffon asked.

 _"To think our lives were perfect. Now we have the legacy of being friends with you,"_ Bright Mac maliciously said.

 _"I thought my daddy was bad, but you are WAY worse,"_ Buttercup added.

 _"Guys..."_ Beck tried to explain, but he stopped after he heard the voice of somepony else.

 _"We're really disappointed in you, son."_

Beck turned around to find both his parents, his father standing tall and his mother crying like her heart had been broken.

 _"To think that you came from my loins,"_ His father said.

 _"Where did I go wrong?"_ His mother wheeped.

Seeing the heartbroken expression on his mother's face made Beck's eyes start to water up as he said, "Mom… please, don't cry, I was only-"

"...and to think I married you!"

"What… T-Twinkle?" Beck asked, before turning around to find his wife standing there.

"You're just so unbelievable, Beck," said a disappointed Twinkle. "Do you expect me to forgive you after what you did? You used my name, you used Carl's name, as justification for spreading fear and suffering to everypony you saw fit. I don't think I could EVER forgive you for that."

"Twinkle, I..."

Beck then heard a gurgle behind him, he turned to find a small colt on the floor.

"Carl? Carl. Hi, baby. Don't worry, Daddy's here..." Beck started soothing as if on instinct.

However, it seemed to have an opposite effect on Carl, who began crying and shuffling away from Beck.

 _'He's... he's afraid of me. My own colt is afraid of me.'_

Just then, the demoralizing chants began once again, this time including his friends and family.

"Nobody likes you, Beck, and I should know..." the cloaked pony said, pulling down his hood to reveal another Beck.

The terrified Earth Pony continued to walk backwards until he found himselr backing up against a wall. _"No! No! No! Stop it! Stop it now, please!"_

"What you did was unforgivable, Becky," said a newly-arrived Discord, standing in the opposite side of Beck's other self, wearing the clown get-up again. "Time for some more **fun** … and I can't wait to show you my **toys**!"

"NO! Not that! Anything but that!" Beck said in fear, tears still flowing.

 _"NO! NO! NO! STOP IT! STOP IT!"_

* * *

 _CLANG!_

Suddenly, Beck opened his eyes, and saw that he'd used his hind leg to kick at one of the bars in front of him, which meant that he was still in his cell.

 _It was a dream… no, not a dream… it was a nightmare!_

He checked his surroundings, seeing nothing but a barred door and walls, and as soon as he realized he was alone, he allowed himself to break down.

"I'm sorry, everyone," Beck sobbed. _"I don't deserve anything."_

Around an hour or so later, the actual Twilight (now bright-eyed and wide awake) had just finished creating a list of things that involved Beck, as well as her friends, which meant that she had some exciting news for the former antagonist.

However, once she entered the dungeon, Twilight's happiness was immediately replaced with horror.

"Come on! Why… won't… you… work?" Beck said, frustrated as he continuously plunged a plastic knife into his chest.

However, due to the knife being plastic, it had almost no effect whatsoever.

 _"Beck?! What are you doing? Drop it!"_ Twilight said, panicking, and the Princess of Friendship used her magic to take the plastic knife away from the suicidal stallion.

"No, Twilight, I need this! I can't live like this!" Beck said, now sounding hysterical, and he was also starting to hyperventilate when suddenly, the purple alicorn entered Beck's cell, wrapping her front forelegs around him the same way she did the first time they had embraced each other.

At first, Beck struggled to escape the embrace, but the Princess of Friendship wouldn't let go, and eventually, the stallion caved in cried into Twilight's purple coat.

After a few minutes like this, Beck managed to calm down to a point where he could form sentences, but the tears were still falling.

"Why... d-do you... even c-care what happens to m, princess? I-I nearly k-killed you," Beck sobbed. "I'm n-not worth i-it."

"Of course you are," Twilight soothed, feeling relieved that Beck had relaxed somewhat. "Everypony deserves a second chance… you were still grieving. Sure, it might not have been right, but the first step to redemption is realizing you did something wrong."

"I'm s-so s-sorry, Princess, for everything," Beck apologized, and he was being completely honest with her. "I c-can't even r-r-recognize myself from d-during that t-time."

"It's okay," Twilight said, rubbing her hoof in a circular motion on Beck's back. "I forgive you."

Whatever remaining hatred that Beck had felt towards Twilight was now gone after she had said those words to him, but he still felt guilty and a little ashamed. "You t-truly are an angel among us, Twilight… but don't w-waste your t-time over s-stallion scum like m-me."

"You aren't scum, Beck," Twilight insisted. "You just did something wrong. Granted, it's going to take a lot of work, but I promise that you'll come back from this."

The dark green Earth Pony looked up at a smiling Twilight, who added, "Your family would want you to keep living your life. If not for you, do it for them."

After a moment or so, Beck finally managed to hold in his sobs, and he slowly nodded his head. "Okay. I'll do it."

"That's the spirit." Twilight praised, releasing Beck from her embrace, and she walked out of the cell, making her way to the exit, but to Beck's confusion, she forgot to close his cell door.

"Um, Twilight? You, uh, left my…"

Nodding her head, Twilight replied, "I sure did, and that's because I have something to show you in the library."

Before Beck could respond to that, Twilight left the dungeon, walking up the stairs, and once Beck knew she was out of earshot, he gave a sigh of relief.

 _"This is for you, honey."_


	5. An Unexpected Reunion

**MLP: Playing With Fire**

 _Chapter 5 - Unexpected Reunion_

 _Disclaimer: "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to Hasbro and DHX Media while I just own Casey and this story._

* * *

Once Twilight had left the dungeon, the young alicorn made her way towards the library, and once she got there, she was surprised to find that her special somepony, along with her former pupil, were both getting ready to step through the Crystal Mirror.

"Leaving so soon? I thought you'd be interested in seeing what-"

Casey gave a quick chuckle, and he shook his head before saying, "I'm not exactly 'interested' to see what the outcome is of Beck owning up to the mistakes… though I certainly hope that it's a positive one."

 _Or else I'm gonna have to beat the living hay out of him if he causes her pain in any sort of way._

Although he'd come to accept the fact that taking Beck's life would not have solved anything, Casey was still unwilling to befriend the middle-aged pony in any sort of way because the memory of Beck assaulting Twilight was one that would never leave his mind.

Twilight looked over at the purple unicorn standing nearby, and she responded by giving a shrug. "He offered me the option of accompaning him, and I accepted… even though I honestly have **no idea** where we're going."

The light-orange pony let out a sigh, and replied, "It's like I _told_ you, we're seeing an old friend that I really feel like talking to."

"Stardust?" wondered Twilight.

A smirk appeared on Starlight's face as she said, "Oh, he _wishes_ that he was seeing him right now… isn't that right?"

"No, but he does have somethin to do with the pony that we **are** planning on seeing," answered Casey, even though part of him was agreeing with her.

It had been almost an entire month - more or less - since the last time he'd seen Stardust and Twilight's counterpart, and because Casey was still trying to fix his wristwatch, he'd been unable to get into contact with them to see how they were doing.

 _I'm really starting to regret not asking him or Princess Twilight if they'd been able to give me an extra book that works like the one Sunset uses,_ thought the young pony, and since all the time that had passed meant it had almost been a year for Stardust's world, that only made him miss the two of them even more.

"Not really surprising to hear that from you," Starlight rolled her eyes, and she shook her head. "Why don't you just spit it out, then, and tell me **who** it is that we're seeing exactly."

"Alright, sheesh, just relax," said Casey, trying to calm her down. "We're going to the world that Miles lives in."

Twilight became a little surprised after hearing him say that name. "The yellow Pegasus that Rowan took possession of?"

"Yup…" Casey nodded his head, and he was about to step through the Crystal Mirror when the purple alicorn told him to wait a moment. "What do you- _oof!_ "

She handed him a very thick book, which had almost made Casey fall to the ground after recieving it, and she said, "Whatever you end up learning about Stardust, I want it to be put in here, along with the rest of what we know about him so far."

 _I should've known that she would ask me to do that for her… sheesh, how much stuff has she written in this thing?_

After getting used to holding the book, Casey placed it in one of his cloak's pockets, and replied, "I'll do my best, Twilight… love you."

Then, after giving his special somepony a quick kiss on the cheek, Casey walked through the Crystal Mirror, and after a flash of bright light, he was gone.

Before going in herself, Starlight looked at Twilight, and asked, "So are you sure you'll be okay with whatever you have planned today regarding Beck?"

The confident alicorn nodded her head, and she replied, "I've got everything under control. You just enjoy your time with Casey."

"Eh, I'll try to," said a smirking Starlight, even though she was pleased that they'd been able to make up for lost time back when Casey had spent most of it in either virtual limbo or Stardust's world. "See you later, Twilight."

Then, after the two of them waved good-bye to each other, Starlight walked through the Crystal Mirror…

… and she expected to step into an exact replica of the library, but for some reason, that wasn't the case.

"Um, Casey? Why aren't we standing inside of a library?"

As the two ponies took a look around, a confused Casey replied, "I, er, don't know… but it looks like we're in some kind of laboratory."

They saw tables that held various test tubes and vials, along with several labeled potions, multiple pieces of machinery, and a few inventions that were catching their curiousity, but their focus on them was broken by the sudden appearance of a somewhat familiar Pegasus that wore a labcoat and a pair of glasses.

"Well, this is a surprise… can I help you two with something?"

Not wanting to get in some kind of trouble, Casey nodded his head before saying, "Hello, sir. I was wondering if you could tell us where, um, a Pegasus named Miles lives at in this world?"

Letting out a chuckle, the yellow and middle-aged pony smirked at Casey as he replied, "This may not be the castle, but this is somewhat my second home… and hello to you, too, Casey."

 _How did he know my name?_ thought the young Earth Pony, but after noticing the familiarity in his voice, as well as a few other recognizable body features, his mouth almost dropped to the ground once he realized who the Pegasus was. " _Miles_?"

" _What_ … you're him?" said Starlight, who was equally surprised. "But how is… I mean, you were around our age the last time we saw you, and now, you look like someone's father."

An amused Miles, who also had a white-haired goatee, gave the two of them a warm smile, and replied, "That's because it's been almost 15 years since the day that I thanked you and the others for what you did."

" _Fifteen years?_ " cried both Starlight and Casey.

Miles nodded his head, and he explained, "Time works **very** differently in this world than how it is for you two in your own world."

 _No kidding,_ thought Casey, who was feeling relieved and grateful for that not being the case with him and Stardust.

And, as if by concidence, Miles became slightly nervous while asking, "Oh, um… is that one friend of yours coming, as well? Stardust was his name, if I recall correctly, yes?

Seeing the change in his expression and tone, Casey replied, "Not really, no… was there something you wanted to tell him?"

A sheepish smile appeared on Miles' face as he replied, "It's just that I, uh, never got the chance to personally offer him and his special somepony my sincere apologies for what had happened regarding my, um… well…"

Remembering all of the terrible stuff that a possessed Miles had done that involved Stardust, Casey let out a sigh, and tried his best to make the Pegasus feel better.

"I know that he isn't here, Miles, but I'm pretty sure Stardust and his Twilight aren't holding any sort of grudge or hard feelings against you for what happened… and, um, I'll be sure to mention this whenever I see them again."

A look of surprise appeared on Miles' face as he replied, "Really? You would do that for me?"

Casey smiled at the middle-aged pony, and he nodded his head. "I give you my word."

"Thank you very much," said Miles, giving him a warm smile of his own, in return. "I would've done it myself a long time ago, but personally, I'm not exactly comfortable with any sort of traveling that involves going to another world or universe, or back in time."

Starlight let out a small chuckle, and she replied, "You aren't the only one who thinks that, Miles… but, uh, I hope you're okay with talking to us about your own past… sort of."

"Well, I don't see what the problem is there," said an amused Miles. "What would you like for me to tell you?"

The purple unicorn looked over at Casey with a smirk, and the orange pony let out a sigh as he pulled out the book that Twilight had given him.

"That's quite a lengthy book you've got there, son…"

Casey let out a chuckle, and he replied, "Thanks, but Twilight wrote pretty much everything in here… anyway, what I wanted to ask was-"

Suddenly, before he could finish his sentence, Miles had something else that he wanted to say.

"Before you ask your questions, Casey, I wanted to know if you and Starlight would be interested in testing out one of my newest inventions."

"Really?" replied the young pony, who had been secretly hoping for him to ask something that. "Sure! Which one of these-"

Miles shook his head, and said, "It's over in the other room down the hall."

Casey looked at Starlight, who gave a small shrug, saying, "Sure, I guess… doesn't sound so bad or anything."

"Wonderful, then, just follow me," said Miles, and he began to lead them out of the lab. "Oh, you can leave that book in here if you want, Casey… no reason to continue carrying it."

" _Thank you!"_ The young pony let out a sigh of relief after hearing that, and placed the book on a nearby desk before he and Starlight followed Miles to the door that would lead to wherever he planned on taking them.


	6. Taking a Risk

**My Little Pony: Playing With Fire**

 _Chapter 6 - Taking a Risk_

 **Disclaimer:** "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" is owned by Lionsgate & Hasbro while Beck was created by FanficFan920, who helped write out most of said OC's scenes in here, and I happily own the story.

* * *

As Casey and Starlight walked down with Miles down the hallway, the middle-aged pony looked over at them, with a curious expression.

"So, I take it that you two are an item now?"

Both of the two ponies frowned in confusion, and Starlight replied, "Item? Wait, do you mean…"

"... that me and her are both…?" finished Casey, who shared the same look of understanding with Starlight as they realized what Miles had asked them, and before the Pegasus could respond, the light-orange earth pony and purple unicorn quickly shook their heads.

"No, I'm dating Twilight... Starlight's like my sister…" Casey said, followed by a teasing smirk as he added, "Besides, she's not really my type."

"Not your _type_?" exclaimed Starlight, but after seeing that Casey was just being humorous, she decided to play along. "Oh, please, you aren't even in the same league as me."

Casey rolled his eyes, and replied, "I was able to get Twilight as my special somepony, wasn't I?"

Then, having realized what he'd just said, Casey quickly added, "Please don't tell her I ever said that, okay?"

An amused Starlight rolled her eyes, and she said, "Whatever you say, _little brother._ "

"Thank you, Sta - wait, _l_ _ittle?_ " exclaimed the light-orange pony. "Star, we're both the same age, and you're only ten inches taller than me… well, maybe fifteen if you add in all of this."

With a chuckle, Casey used his hoof to ruffle up Starlight's mane until she knocked it away with her own, and an observant Miles just shook his head. "I'm sorry I asked."

* * *

Several minutes after her special somepony and former pupil had left, Twilight was looking over her newly-created list of things that had to do with Beck's redemption process when said pony entered the library.

"Feeling better now?"

Beck nodded his head, and replied, "I, um, think I'll be okay, princess… so, how exactly do I, er, show that I want to be a better stallion?"

Lifting up the list she had been looking at, Twilight said, "Well, it's actually quite simple in theory. First, you need to apologize to everyone you've wronged,"

"Fair enough," said Beck, thinking that it didn't actually sound so bad. "Who's first?"

"Spike," replied Twilight, which made her newly-released prisoner feel a little more nervous. "What is it?"

Rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof,Beck said, "Um, I'm not exactly sure that will be easy, princess… and I mean no offense when I say this, but I nearly-"

"- inserted a dart into him that was designed to knock someone out in a more _permanent_ manner, " finished Twilight, remembering the same words that Beck had told her, but this only made him feel more nervous. "I'm so sorry about that."

Beck let out a sigh, and muttered, "No, it's fine, princess, I get it… but I guess there's no harm in trying, right?"

Placing a hoof on Beck's shoulder, which elicited a small smile from the grateful earth pony, Twilight replied, "That's the spirit, Beck… looks like you're off to a good start."

"Thanks, Princess... so, um, where's Spike right now?"

The young alicorn gestured over to the door, leading out into the hallway, and she said, "He's tidying up his room, so now's probably a good time to talk to him."

 _Well, alright then,_ thought Beck, who inhaled and exhaled before walking out of the library, but a few seconds later, he came back with a sheepish smile. "Twilight, which way is-"

"Go to the end of the hall, turn right, and it's the third door on the left."

Beck blinked his eyes a few times before nodding his head, and he walked back out to make his way towards Spike's bedroom door.

Then, once he was standing in front of it,the middle aged pony let out a sigh, and knocked on the door with his right front hoof.

 _Knock-knock-knock!_

 _"I swear if it's the Crusaders again, I am gonna..."_ Beck heard Spike mumble through the door before opening it. "Look, you three, I already-"

However, once the small dragon realized who had been the one to knock on his door, he immediately became silent, and his eyes went wide while a sheepish Beck chuckled a little bit before saying, "Um… how are-"

" _Twilight!"_ exclaimed Spike, and he hurried out of the room, running past Beck before the Earth Pony could finish his sentence. "Casey! Starlight! Everypony! Beck got out!"

 _Well, that went swimmingly,_ thought the black-maned earth pony, now looking dejected.

* * *

"Um… I'm sorry if I sound rude, Miles, but what are we looking at here?"

Casey and Starlight were now in the room, looking at the invention that the yellow Pegasus had been talking about, and a smile appeared on Miles' face as he said, "This is a mixture of an X-Ray machine and what the humans call a CT scanner."

Seeing that they still looked confused, Miles added, "It's typically a large, box-like machine with a hole, or short tunnel, in the center, and one of you will lie on a narrow examination table that slides into and out of this tunnel…"

While Miles placed a hoof on the machine, with a proud look on his face, Casey asked, "What's the purpose of it, then?"

Miles' smile went away a little as he remembered the events from his past that had allowed himself to be completely possessed by Rowan, which then led to his downfall.

"To make sure that no one else will go through what I did when my special somepony was in a coma," replied the middle-aged pony., and he sighed before continuing. "This machine is designed to locate any kind of problems in someone's body, and erase them completely… unfortunately, things have been pretty, um, normal around here since the two of us came back that day."

Before Casey could say anything, Starlight (who still felt like messing with him) gave the young pony a pat on the back, and said, "Well, lucky for you, Casey here has had a **lot** of catastrophic stuff happen to him since we last saw each other."

" _Hey!"_

Starlight rolled her eyes, and looked at him with disbelief while recounting past events in Casey's life. "You were sent to Stardust's world **and** his original homeworld, to virtual and dimensional limbo, to Anti-Equestria… Anti-Stardust almost beating you to death when he turned the castle of Stardust's Twilight into a stadium… you were brought back to life by Kronos' magic… the fight you had with Beck when he captured all of us… Rowan breaking your hind-legs…"

"Alright, I get it, a whole lot of **** happened to me." Casey let out a sigh, and took another look at Miles' machine. "Well, I said I wanted to help out, and that's what I'm going to do…"

Miles' smile returned, but Casey's own started to disappear a little since he was hoping that he wouldn't end up regretting this decision.

* * *

" _Twilight!"_

The purple alicorn looked up from her list, and saw a worried Spike entering the library. "Are you okay? Why are you-"

"It's Beck," exclaimed Spike, who was also trying to relax himself. "He got out of his cell!"

 _Oh, dear,_ thought Twilight, realizing that Beck's redemption process was definitely not starting out so great. "Look, Spike, I probably should have told you this sooner, but... I was the one that let Beck out."

"You WHAT?!" cried Spike, now getting even more worried. "Why would… wait, did he force you to do it? Are Casey and Starlight locked up? Is Beck going to-"

Suddenly, Twilight placed her front hooves on Spike's shoulders, and said, "Just calm down, Spike! Casey and Starlight are fine… and Beck only wants to make up for what he did, so I'm trying to help him."

The little dragon's mouth almost dropped to the ground after hearing that. "Are you _nuts?!_ Don't you remember all of those things he did to everyone, especially you?"

"Yes, Spike, I remember," Twilight replied. "But I can't just stand by and not let somepony have a chance to make things right again."

Then, right when Spike was about to yell out some more, Twilight added, "I also think it's fair enough that you hear him out since he technically was one of the reasons you were finally able to kiss Rarity after waiting so long."

Realizing that she had a point, the young dragon sighed, and after relaxing some more, he replied, "Okay, I guess you're right… but, what am I supposed to-"

"Hey, Twilight, I don't think your faithful assistant wants to…" said Beck, now entering the library, but stopped once he realized that Spike was in there, as well, and the two of them looked at each other in somewhat awkward silence.

It wasn't until the young princess cleared her throat that Spike took a few steps forward, and said, "Um… Twilight said you, er, had some kind of… apology to give me?"

After glancing over at a head-nodding Twilight, Beck replied, "I'm sorry, Spike… it's no excuse for what I did, but I was in a really dark place after the Tirek incident. My whole family, my best friend… all gone.

"But I think… I think it was losing my foal that sent me over the edge."

A minor look of surprise showed up on Spike's face as he said, "I… didn't know you had a foal."

Beck sadly nodded his head, and said, "I'll never forget the first day I laid eyes on him…"

 _Flashback - Many years ago_

"Congratulations, it's a colt!" Nurse Redheart congratulated, handing the newborn to his mother, Twinkle Star.

"So, what are we going to name him?" Twinkle asked her husband, Beck.

"What about… Carl? I always appreciated the more simple names," Beck suggested.

A smile appeared on Twinkle's face, and she nodded her head. "Carl it is, then."

Just as she said that, the door opened and friends and family of the couple began pouring in to see the foal.

"Where is it? Where's my Grandfoal? Beck's mother said, making a B-line for Twinkle and the newly named Carl. "Ohhh, look how handsome he is... aw, I'm suddenly remembering the day that you were in his position, Becky."

"Mom, cut it out, please," muttered an embarassed Beck, while his wife silently giggled to herself.

"Leave our son alone, sweetheart… you two did a fine job, my boy," Beck's father said.

"Thanks Dad," Beck replied.

"If you ever need help, don't hesitate to call me or Chaffon," Carrot Cake said.

"Guess you're gonna be a little busier with the foal now, huh?" Night Light said.

Beck chuckled at his best friend's statement, and he replied, "You could say that… but I did promise that you and I would go to-"

"Beck?"

The new father pony turned his head back towards his wife, and said, "Yes, Twinkle?"

"Do you want to hold him now?"

Beck immediately beamed. "Sure."

He trotted to his wife's bedside and sat down, letting his forelegs become available. Twinkle carefully handed the now-sleeping Carl over to his father.

"Hi little one," Beck whispered. "Daddy's got you." Never before had Beck felt such pride in anything. He was a father. The only day that could come close to this was the day he and Twinkle got married.

"You're gonna grow up big and strong like your old stallion. I promise."

 _Present_

"Being a father…" continued Beck. "It was a feeling I couldn't describe… now, I do love many things. My friends, my job, my family, and Twinkle especially, but Carl… he's something else. He was only…. a couple years old before it happened. Said his first words a week before I left as a matter of fact."

 _Flashback #2 - A week before the Season 4 finale_

Beck was just getting home from town when his wife suddenly began to yell out for him.

"Beck! Beck, come quick!"

The green stallion dropped his saddle bags and booked it to Carl's room, where Twinkle was waiting.

"What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Carl said his first word!" Twinkle said, ecstatic.

"Really?" Beck asked, the same feeling of pride from the day of Carl's birth returning.

"Come on, honey, say it again," Twinkle urged.

"... Dada…" Carl cooed.

"Oh, my Celestia," Beck gasped. _He called me 'dad.'_

Wiping away a couple of prideful tears, Beck turned to jest his wife. "I always knew he'd say my name first."

"Oh, quiet you," Twinkle said as she nuzzled her husband.

"Looks like my best friend owes me 20 bits now," muttered a still-grinning Beck.

"Wait, what did you say?"

"Huh? Nothing!"

 _Present_

Then, Beck started to conclude his statement. "When Twilight never addressed the Tirek incident… or those who lost their lives, I just got… so angry. It was…. she was just… sweeping them all under the rug… like, she was sweeping my foal's death under the rug, as if my feelings meant nothing to her…

"I knew it was for the good of Equestria, but… but why did it have to be my family… my foal, that paid the price."

Now looking at both Spike and Twilight, Beck added, "I never wanted to hurt you, Spike. I only wanted to hurt Twilight…"

He paused to smile sheepishly at said princess. "Back then, of course…"

Twilight just nodded her head, and allowed Beck to continue.

"And it's because losing Carl was the worst feeling I ever experienced, so I wanted to make her feel that exact same thing."

The young dragon continued to remain silent.

"You honestly don't have to forgive me… I mean, I won't expect you to do so, but I at least want you to know that I'm sorry and extremely remorseful over my actions."

Once again, silence reigned, with Spike processing Beck's little speech, and Beck silently praying to Celestia that Spike wouldx at least, understand what he was saying.

As for Twilight, she had a pretty good idea on what was about to happen next.

"I'm sorry about Carl, Beck," said Spike, once he'd gained back the ability to speak.

"Thank You," Beck responded, but he could tell that the dragon had more to say.

"Don't get me wrong… what you did was really messed up though," pointed out Spike. "Not even Starlight stooped that low… but, Twilight still managed to reform her, so… who's to say she can't do it again?"

"Does that mean…."

Spike shook his head, as Beck had expected, and he replied, "No. I don't think that I can forgive you… yet. I still need, uh, a bit of time to process all of this. I respect that you're trying to be better, and I couldn't be happier for that, especially after going through what you did…. But…"

"… it doesn't change the past," said Beck, and Spike gave him a quick nod.

"Exactly."

 _Just take it one step at a time,_ thought Beck, and he gave Spike a small smile. "Thanks for listening, at least."

"No problem," replied Spike. "But, uh… Twilight, does this mean he's gonna apologize to **everyone** that he captured?"

A smirk appeared on Twilight's face, and she said, "Well, yes, but not all in one day, Spike… speaking of which, now that you're checked off, it's time for me to take Beck over to the house of the next pony that's on this list."

A nervous but also curious Beck found himself asking, "So, um, w-who would that be exactly?"

"It's-"

* * *

 **Future**

Suddenly, Casey found himself coughing several times, which forced him to pause his story that he'd been telling Twilight's other self, and the young alicorn couldn't help but show some concern for her roughed-up friend.

"Are you okay?" She asked, and Casey nodded his head while continuing to cough, with Stardust's special somepony remembering that the last time he'd looked like this was back when Casey had almost been destroyed by Anti-Stardust.

"I'm fine, Twilight," replied Casey, once he was able to stop coughing. "Now, where did I leave off-"

However, before he could continue with his story, Emerl made her return into the room, and a frown appeared on Casey's face. "I thought we agreed that you'd stay away until the three hours were up."

"Yeah, well, I changed my mind," replied the cerulean Pegasus, and she walked over to stand in front of Twilight's counterpart, with a smile appearing on her face. "Besides, I'm actually curious myself as to how this locked-up beauty was taken prisoner in the first place."

The young princess was about to give her a response when Casey exclaimed, "I haven't gotten to that part yet, Emerl… so, will you please get back to doing what needs to be done?"

"Whatever, hot-shot," muttered Emerl, who smiled at Twilight's counterpart some more before leaving the room to themselves.

 _Why does she keep looking at me like that?_ wondered Stardust's girlfriend.

As for Casey, he was just hoping that it wouldn't be too late by the time that he did finish telling his story...


	7. Choices to Make

**My Little Pony: Playing with Fire**

 _Chapter 7 - Choices to Make_

 **Disclaimer** : "My Little Pony: The Movie" is owned by Lionsgate & Hasbro while Beck was created by FanficFan920, and I happily own the story

* * *

"Alright, just give it to me straight, Miles… how bad is it?"

Casey was currently lying down on the table that was placed in the middle of Miles' machine while Starlight and the middle-aged pegasus were looking at a monitor that showed them visuals of his bones, organs, tissue, etc.

"What in Celestia's name has _happened_ to you since the last time we met?"

A smirking Starlight replied, "It's just like I said earlier-"

The light-orange pony rolled his eyes, and muttered, "Thank you, Star, but we don't need another recap of what happened in the previous stories."

Starlight simply shrugged his shoulders while Miles took a closer look at the screen. "Huh… this is rather strange."

"What is...?" wondered Casey.

Keeping his eyes on the monitor, Miles replied, "You have some kind of… unknown aura that's surrounding your entire body… as well as the inside of it."

He turned his head to look over at Casey, and asked, "Have you recently consumed anything that was not natural or affected you in a negative way?"

Casey was about to shake his head when he suddenly remembered what he'd done back when Beck had first moved into Twilight's castle as her prisoner, as well as what had led to their momentary break-up, and to him spending several weeks in a wheelchair.

"Yeah, I, um… drank a lot of, er, _special water_ that ended up allowing Rowan to break both of my hind legs, and mess around with my emotions."

A look of surprise appeared on Miles' face, along with a hint of fear. "He did what? I thought he was dead after your world's version of Pinkie sent him to the _Smile HD_ world."

 _If only that had been the case,_ thought Casey, and he let out a sigh. "He survived it somehow… but I promise you that Stardust **definitely** took care of him, and it'd be impossible for Rowan to ever come back."

Miles let out a sigh of relief, and looked back at the monitor. "Well, if you're okay with it, I can use my machine to get rid of _(waves hoof around)_ all this potentially-harmful magic."

Before Casey could respond, an unsure Starlight chose to give her opinion on Miles' invention. "Um, this machine _is_ built to be safe, right? I mean… I don't want to bring him back to Twilight in another wheelchair."

Casey rolled his eyes, and said, "Oh, thanks for the support."

With a smile on his face, the middle-aged Pegasus placed a hoof on his chest, and he said, "I can assure you that everything will be perfectly fine, Starlight. He won't even feel a thing… but like I said, it's his decision to make."

Then, Miles and Starlight looked over at Casey, who glanced up at the machine that he was currently lying in, wondering on whether or not it was best for him to go through with this.

 _################_

Anti-Rainbow was currently inside of the throne room, looking at the Friendship Map in silence, and eating some pie as she sat in her throne when an entering Anti-Pinkie suddenly asked, " _Soooo_ , are you gonna tell him or what?"

"Uh, tell who _what_ , Pinkie?" replied Anti-Rainbow, after swallowing the rest of the pie portion that she'd been chewing on.

The pink-colored pony walked over to her own throne, and began to make herself comfortable in it. "You _knoooowww_ … that you like Stardust _more_ than just a friend?"

Anti-Rainbow rolled her eyes, and replied, "Well, _duh_ , he already knows that… we're best friends, remember?"

Pinkie's alternate self let out a laugh, and shook her head before saying, "I'm talking about you liking him in _another_ way, Dashy… you know, the _good way_ … as in-"

" _Gah!_ Yes, Pinkie, I know what way you're talking about," hissed the dark blue pegasus, looking over at the doorway to make sure that Anti-Stardust wasn't there. "But what makes you think I'd tell him something like that when it's not even true?"

Anti-Pinkie simply smiled at her confused and slightly red-faced friend. "Because it is… I mean, you haven't stopped looking at Stardust since he came back yesterday from trying to go to that one world."

"First of all, he never actually _got_ to enter that world," clarified Anti-Rainbow, while continuing to eat from the pie. "And second, it's not my fault he got himself all carved up like a jack-o-lantern. How can you _not_ look at all those scars?"

Anti-Pinkie shrugged her shoulders, and said, "Well, yeah, they're noticeable and stuff, but I don't look at him as much as you've done so far… so it's obvious that you must-"

"I do _not_ like him _that_ way, Pinkie." Rainbow's alternate self shook her head. "Besides… he loves Twilight, remember?"

At first, Anti-Pinkie's happiness started to go down a little, but then, she put on a smile before saying, "Of course I do. Still doesn't mean that he can eventually pick somepony else to be with whenever the time's right,"

Having finished up the rest of the pie, Anti-Rainbow got up to head somewhere else, and she muttered, "I don't even know if they'll ever _be_ a time."

Once she was out of the room, Anti-Rainbow started to walk down the hallway, thinking about the rest of their now-gone friends when she found herself stopping at an open doorway after something inside had caught her attention.

"What… the… _heck_ …?"

To her surprise, the young pegasus saw that she was walking into an empty arena-like area that looked very similar to the one Stardust's other self had created several months ago, and placed in the middle of the arena was a 20 ft. high steel structure that was unlike anything Anti-Rainbow had ever seen before.

" _Liking what you see?"_

Almost jumping in surprise, Rainbow's counterpart turned around to see an entering Anti-Stardust, who had a smirk on his face.

" _Yeah_ …" muttered the young pegasus, noticing once again how different her best friend looked with the scars on his clean-shaven face, as well as the one over his right eye… and speaking of that, both of his eyes looked as if the dark gold pegasus had been dealing with some kind of sadness since she now felt like asking him if-

 _Wait, what?_ thought Anti-Rainbow, shaking her head, and she added, "Uh, Star, exactly _what_ is this thing supposed to be?"

Placing a hoof against one of the steel bars, Stardust's other self replied, "Just a little something big… no, wait, how does that one guy say it… _(in a different voice)_ it's _huuugeee_ … also tall, very tall… and I know it isn't a wall, but whoever's inside there is going to have a lotta trouble getting out-"

"Um, Star, think you could switch back over to your regular voice?" asked Anti-Rainbow, who also couldn't help but laugh at what he'd been saying.

"Sorry, got a little carried away," said an amused Anti-Stardust, whose smile slowly started to turn into a frown while admiring the steel structure. "Anyway, in a few more hours, _this_ right here is going to play a major part in me _finally_ getting my revenge on Casey for everything's that has happened to me…"

The memory of Xenos smashing the statues of his friends entered his mind, causing his frustration to quickly rise, but that stopped after he suddenly felt a hoof on his shoulder, and he turned to look at a concerned Anti-Rainbow.

"I'm… sorry, I… just…" muttered the former human, with a hint of sadness, and Anti-Rainbow nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, so do we, Star…"

Then, both she and Anti-Stardust quietly looked at each other before he asked, "Hey, uh, were you and Pinkie arguing about something?"

"Huh? No, it was just her being her usual self, as always…" said Anti-Rainbow, though a little more faster than her regular vocal tone, but before he could ask the pegasus about it, they were interrupted by the shouting voice of Anti-Pinkie.

" _Stardust! Why can't I have Sonic jump over the shark?"_

While Anti-Rainbow rolled her eyes at her friend's antics, Anti-Stardust shook his head, and sighed as he went over to help out Anti-Pinkie with the video game.

"For the umpteenth time, Pinkie, it's a _whale_ , and you're supposed to run _away_ from it!"

* * *

A few minutes after giving Spike his apology, Beck was now following Twilight to the home of the next pony that was on her list, which was now being held by an accompaning Spike.

"Um, Twilight, are you actually planning on having him give his apology to _everyone_ that he's given trouble to all in one day?"

The purple alicorn shook her head, and replied, "We're going to take all of this one hoof-step at a time… and you're actually doing pretty good so far!"

"Thanks, princess," said Beck, with a small smile on his face. Perhaps it would be easy for him to make these apologies, despite what had happened in the nightmare.

"Well, I mean, he's only made peace with just the two of us, and there's plenty more to…" said Spike, stopping with a sheepish expression once Twilight glared at him. "Sorry."

 _Or maybe not,_ thought the middle-aged Earth Pony.

As for Twilight, she was about to say something comforting to Beck when a familar pale cream pony approached the princess to give her a greeting. "Hi, Twilight and Spike! What are you two doing today?"

"Hi, Bon Bon," greeted Twilight. "We're actually going to see-"

" _Aaaggh!"_ screamed Bon Bon's companion, a mint-green pony named Lyra, who was one of the ponies that Beck had captured while carrying out his revenge scheme, and she had just caught sight of her captor. " _Let's get out of here!"_

 _Whoosh!_

Both of them were gone before Twilight could finish her sentence, and she tried to make Beck feel better by saying, "Don't worry, we'll get to them eventually."

"We sure will," chimed in Spike, making some adjustments to Beck's list, and that made Twilight glare at him again. "What? That is what you said."

As for Beck, he placed a hoof on his forehead, and let out a sigh. " _You can get through this…_ "

 _##############_

 _Knock-knock-knock! Squeeee!_

"Well, hello, Twilight and Spike," greeted Rarity, after the alicorn had knocked on her front door. "Come in, please, I was just finishing up with my newest stuff to take over to Canterlot Carousel for the winter season."

Spike happily followed after the white unicorn that he deeply cared about while Twilight gave Beck a warm smile. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be," replied Beck, going in after the princess, and let out a chuckle.

 _This does beat having to come in through the window._

After he closed the door, Rarity (thinking that it had been Twilight) asked, "So, darling, to what do I owe this lovely visit?"

"Well, I'm glad you asked," replied the Princess of Friendship. "There's someone here that actually has something important to tell you."

"Oh? Who is…" wondered Rarity, but her curiosity quickly turned into shock once she saw that Beck was in her home, and after he sheepishly waved at her, the unicorn started to frown. "Well, at least you chose to come in through the _door_ this time."

"Um… yeah, it felt nice…" Beck looked over at Twilight, who made a _go on_ motion with her hoof while Rarity chose to remain silent. "So, er, anywho, I wanted to sincerely give you my… apolo… gy… wait a second...:"

The reason that the middle-aged pony had begun to stop talking was because of something catching his eye, and so, he trotted over to the object of his attention, stopping at Rarity's Foal section, where she displayed clothing for the younger pony population.

"What is he doing?" whispered Spike, and Twilight gave her assistant a shrug.

"I think he's looking at something that Rarity designed."

The "something" - or, actually, piece of clothing that he was staring at was a small onesie which had tiny cars on it, and some confusion returned to Rarity as she asked, "What's so special about that?"

"I remember this," Beck said, with memories from the past coming back into his mind." "Twinkle got this for Carl for his second birthday."

 _Flashback (Several years ago)_

"Doesn't he look adorable?" Twinkle asked, gazing at Carl playing while he wore his new birthday present.

"He sure is, honey. Not as much as you though," Beck chided.

"Oh, stop," replied Twinkle, lightly bumping his shoulder, and her husband was about to say something comedic when their son suddenly tossed a toy at Beck's forehead.

Then, as Carl started to laugh, Beck muttered, "Better than a frying pan, I guess…"

 _Present_

"Wait a moment," Rarity realized, as well as getting Beck's attention. "Did you say Twinkle? As in, _Twinkle Star_?"

Beck nodded her head, and a joyful look of surprise appeared on the unicorn's face.

"Oh, sweet Celestia, do I remember her. She was one of the pickiest customers I've ever had…"

 _Yep, sounds like her,_ thought Beck, who found himself starting to smile.

"... though I didn't mind. As a matter of fact, she actually had some of the most wonderful stories."

 _Flashback #2 (Several Years Ago)_

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where everything is _chique_ and _magnifique_ ," Rarity welcomed in her best Canterlotian accent, while her newest possible client bore a sheepish-and-slightly-shy expression on her face.

"Hi, Mrs. Rarity, I'm Twinkle Star. I-I hope it isn't too much trouble, but I have, um, an almost two-year-old colt, and… well, I was wondering if you had anything I could get as a way to mark his second birthday?"

Rarity beamed after hearing what Twinkle had asked. "Why, _of course_ , darling! I don't exactly sell clothing for foals too often, but I always have some on hand in case the need should arise, and from what it seems, said need has finally arrived. Also, making them certainty helps when I don't have anything too do for an hour or so. Now, then, come, come…"

The two mares walked over to a smaller nook of the boutique, where Rarity and Beck would be standing far into the future, and took a look at what Rarity had too offer.

 _Present_

"She told me all about Carl. He sounded like such a darling little colt," finished Rarity, and looked over at Twinkle's husband. "She told me about you as well, like how you were such a great father to him, and even wished you would have been there with her. The way she talked about you, it actually reminded me of what I wanted in a potential suitor."

 _I'm just gonna choose to ignore that,_ thought Spike.

"It's just…" Rarity started to say, but Beck simply finished what she was thinking.

"It's just that you're having a hard time grasping how I could be the stallion she was talking about as well as the one that captured you and nearly killed your little Spikey Wikey?"

"Well, in some ways….yes, but I think I can see now why you took the actions that you did," explained Rarity, much to Twilight's pleasure

"And while they were made in poor judgment, I can at least acknowledge that you are remorseful about them."

The smiling Earth Pony glanced over at a pleased Twilight, and Spike decided to give him a thumbs-up.

"Brsides, I'm not one to hold a drudge, it's bad for my mane," Rarity explained, running her hoof quickly through her mane, and Twilight rolled her eyes while Spike's own hand turned into a thumbs-up.

"Thank you, Rarity, that means a lot," replied a more-relaxed Beck.

Rarity scoffed, and she made a motion with her hoof while saying, "Oh, _pshhh-kkk-kkk!_ No trouble at all, darling… so, Twilight, darling, who is the next pony that you plan on taking him to see?"

 _###############_

 _ **Future**_

"Wow, that was… oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt," said an impressed Twilight, now bearing a sheepish expression. "It's just that you actually did a pretty good of talking the way that Rarity does, especially when…"

Suddenly, for some reason, the imprisoned alicorn quickly became silent, and it wasn't until a moment or two later that Casey asked, "Twilight? You okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine," replied Stardust's special somepony, making the _continue_ motion to Casey with her hoof while also thinking about what had just happened.

 _That… couldn't have been him… impossible…_


	8. Checking In, Part 1

**MLP: Playing With Fire**

 _ **Chapter 8 - Checking In, Part 1**_

 _Author's Note:_ "My Little Pony" and "Equestria Girls" are owned by Hasbro, and Stardust Balance was created by the Warrior of Twilight.

* * *

" _Thank you so much for looking after my garden while I'm away on vacation, Twilight."_

Unaware of the small stream of Equestrian magic that had entered her watering can, Sci-Twi happily nodded her head as the principal of Canterlot High handed her a set of keys to the gardenhouse in front of them. "I really appreciate it… and I'm pleased to see that you came to help her today, Stardust."

A small smile appeared on the face of Stardust's _Equestria Girls_ counterpart as he Celestia a small shrug, and as the principal walked away, he placed the right headphone earbud into his ear while turning on his mp3 player. "Just don't expect me to show up here with you _every_ day, love."

An amused Sci-Twi rolled her eyes while Spike's dog counterpart said, "To be honest, Star, I'm still surprised that you're here in the first place."

"Didn't have anything better to do, I guess," replied EG Stardust, who was slightly telling a small white lie since he actually _would_ have been able to find something that was better than looking over various plants, but ever since his interaction with Kronos, the young teenager had been doing whatever it took to prevent the world-watcher from permanently sending him to a place that was a thousand times worse than whatever hell was like.

Besides, seeing how excited his girlfriend was as she told Spike that this would expand her knowledge of botany felt good enough for him, and as they entered the plant-filled building, EG Stardust's smile grew a little more as the glasses-wearing teenager began to sing while sweeping up the small mess on the floor.

 _Give a little and you  
Get a little and you  
Care a little and it starts to show_

Then, she began to start sprinkling some water into some of the smaller potted plants before she went to the bigger ones.

 _Growing things is easy  
If you just give it room to grow_

" _Oh!"_ giggled Sci-Twi, noticing that a row of small plants were happily moving around. " _Well, hi there, little guys! How are you doing?"_

The plants responded by singing in the same kind of tune as Sci-Twi, who happily bobbed her head back and forth to the catchy beat.

 _Give a little 'cause ya  
Care a little and ya  
Try a little and it starts to show_

 _Growing quick is easy when you just  
Get some room to grow_

After giving them some more water, Sci-Twi continued to do the same with the rest of the plants, but since the water was contaminated with magic, it was causing the plants to grow even taller, as well as coming to life.

 _[Twilight]  
Starting small but growing taller  
All ya need's a little love  
A little care  
A little for you, a little for you  
And maybe just a little more over there_

In just a matter of seconds, all of the plants had come alive, and were singing to the young teenager, as well as asking for more of the water from her watering can.

 _Give a little 'cause ya  
Care a little and ya  
Tip a little and ya make it more  
Growing big is easy when you just  
Get a little bit more!_

However, it wasn't long before they had grown tired of waiting, and some of them had begun asking for seconds, much to Sci-Twi's surprise.

 _"Ooh. You, too? And you? Well, okay. More?"_

To make matters worse, the plants were arguing amongst themselves while they individually asked a nervous Sci-Twi for more water.

 _[Plant Soloist 1]  
Gettin' a little isn't quite enough to satisfy  
[Plant Soloist 2]  
I'd like a little more, please  
Can you help me? I'm a-dyin'!  
[Cactus]  
Please, I'll be your best friend  
You can tell me all your woes  
[Tree]  
Shove over just a little bit  
I need some room to grow!_

A worried Spike hurried over to EG Stardust, who was standing in the corner, with both of the headphone ear pieces placed in while he searched for a song.

 _[Plant Soloist 3]  
Come on, Twilight, help me out  
I'm thirsty, I need love  
[Plant Soloist 4]  
Over here, I need some  
[Plant Soloist 3]  
Hey, bud, you don't gotta shove!_

" _Stardust!"_ cried Spike, and after realizing that he couldn't hear him because of whatever song EG Stardust was listening to, the small dog used his mouth to yank out the headphone jack from the young teen's media-playing device.

"Hey!" EG Stardust glared at the green-furred canine. "Spike, what have I said about-"

 _Help us, Twilight, we need more  
That's the water we adore  
Just a little extra taste  
Don't let a droplet go to waste_

"When the hell did all of _this_ happen?" asked EG Stardust, looking at his worried girlfriend, who was trying to keep her watering can away from a pair of grown plants that were trying to take it away from her.

"I don't know! I was just watering, and… then, they all-"

 _Help us, Twilight, we need more  
That's the water we adore  
Just a little extra taste  
Don't let a droplet go to waste_

Taking a closer look at the watering can, EG Stardust pointed at it, and said, "There's magic inside of that thing, love! Stop watering the plants!"

"What do you _think_ I'm trying to do?" replied Sci-Twi, with slight irritation.

 _Help us, Twilight, we need more  
That's the water we adore  
Just a little extra taste  
Don't let a droplet go to waste_

Then, an idea popped into EG Stardust's head, and he walked over to a nearby nozzle. "If it's more water that they want…"

 _Whoosh!_

A few seconds later, EG Stardust turned off the gardenhouse's sprinkler system, and all of the plants had returned back to normal, while he, Sci-Twi, and Spike were now soaking wet.

"Oh, and Twilight?" They looked over at the doorway, where a returning Principal Celestia gave her student a small piece of information that she'd forgotten to mention earlier. "Just be careful not to overwater the plants. Have fun!"

As she walked away, a frustrated EG Stardust gritted his teeth together before yelling, "Why in the _hell_ did she not f-"

 _Whoosh!_

He was interrupted by the arrival of water that came from a faulty sprinkler roof-heads placed above EG Stardust, now getting even more wet, and a sheepish Sci-Twi handed her boyfriend an umbrella.

* * *

As Starlight, Casey, and Miles went back into the library, the middle-aged pony said, "Thank you again for allowing me to rid your body of whatever Rowan had convinced you to take. Now, you're back to your old self again."

Casey nodded his head, but he looked like he'd just been through a really bad experience. "Thank you for handing me a bucket before it was too late… I'm definitely going to enjoy taking a nap in my bed - _oof_!"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" remined an amused Starlight, who was glad that nothing terrible had happened to her friend, aside from him having to throw up a few times, and after placing Twilight's thick notebook into his hooves, the light-orange pony gave a sheepish grin.

"Ah, right… um, Miles?" Casey looked over at the aged Pegasus, and he asked, "Do you remember anything about, um, what might have made Rowan use the Silver Staff to send me into Stardust's world?"

To his slight dissapointment, Miles shook his head in response. "I'm sorry. I wish I could answer that for you, but most of my memories back when Rowan was in control of my body are a little fuzzy."

 _Worth a sbot, then, I guess_ , thought Casey, giving him a small smile. "That's alright, Miles… um, hopefully the next time we see each other, it won't be that much of a surprise."

"I completely agree with you on that," replied Miles, chuckling as he shook hooves with the two young ponies, and waved good-bye as they stepped through his world's version of the Crystal Mirror.

Then, once Casey and Starlight were back in the library, the light-orange pony placed his girlfriend's notebook onto the table, and looked over at Starlight. "Think you could make me some of that special tea you drank after you performed a memory spell on yourself?"

"Sure," replied the pink unicorn, who began to walk out of the room. "So, how do you think it's going with Twilight and Beck?"

Casey just gave her a small shrug. "As long as he doesn't give me a reason to hate him more, I'm fine with whatever she does to help _reform_ the guy."

Then, once Starlight was gone, Casey let out a sigh, and sadly muttered to himself while looking through Twilight's thick notebook.

* * *

 **Future**

While Casey took a moment to pause his story, Twilight's counterpart asked, "So, do you.. hate him...?"

It took a moment for the young pony to answer. "I don't _hate_ him necessarily, Twilight... I just can't imagine us ever being friends because of what I saw him do to my Twilight."

Then, since he wanted to quickly move onto something else, Casey said, "And look, Twilight, I... I am sorry for all of this... happening... you've probably been in worser situations, though, huh?"

Twilight waved her hoof back and forth like a teeter-totter, and the light-orange Earth pony began to chuckle. "I just hope that, after this, no one else that I care about gets hurt."

 _###############_

A small grin appeared on Xenos' face, and a few moments later, the mysterious figure said, "This is _very interesting... Azul!"_

 _"Coming, sir!"_ cried a young blue Pegasus, and once he was in front of Xenos, he asked, "Y-yes?"

"Prepare my gauntlet," replied Xenos. "It appears that I'll be paying a visit to a certain world more earlier than I originally planned... also, place this in the prison cell."

With the snap of a finger, an object appeared in front of his servant, who looked at with confusion. "Are you.. sure that-"

"You wouldn't be questioning my decisions, would you?" said Xenos, in a cold tone that made Azul's fear grow.

"N-no, of course not," replied Azul, quickly shaking his head before proceeding with taking the crib over to the ordered destination.


	9. Checking In, Part 2

**MLP: Playing With Fire**

 **Chapter 9 - Checking In, Part 2**

 **Disclaimer:** _"My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" belongs to Hasbro and DHX Media._

* * *

 _Location: CHS Rooftop (Jack's World)_

As she tapped her foot on the ground, an irritated Rainbow let out a sigh, and she crossed her arms. "What's taking her so long to get here?"

"We've only been here for five minutes, Rainbow," replied Applejack, speaking in a dry tone.

While Rainbow rolled her eyes, a concerned Fluttershy said, "I hope nothing bad's happened. She seemed a little bit off this morning."

"Oh, don't worry, darling, I'm sure that she was only like that because today's Monday," replied Rarity, who was currently looking through a fashion magazine.

Pinkie Pie continued to munch on a sugary cupcake that she'd brought as a snack, and Twilight was just keeping quiet since she already had an assumption as to what was the important news that Sunset wanted to tell all of them.

And speaking of Sunset, said human being was currently waiting behind the door that would take her to the rooftop, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do. _Nothing will change, Sunset… nothing will change._

Once she felt like she was ready, Sunset opened the door, and slowly walked over to her group of friends, with Rainbow crying, "Well, look who decided to _finally_ show - _ow_!"

"Just ignore her, sugarcube," said Applejack, after thumping the blue-skinned teenager on the back of her head.

"Is everything alright, darling?" asked Rarity. "You and Jack didn't get into a heated argument or anything, did you?"

Sunset shook her head, and she replied, "Oh, no, it's nothing like that… I just, um… s-something _unexpected_ happened during the final days of winter break."

" _Ooooh!_ What was it?" wondered a curious Pinkie, while Twilight continued to remain quiet, even though she knew part of what Sunset was referring to.

 _Just tell them. It'll be fine._

The bacon-haired teenager sighed, and rubbed the back of her neck with her hand as she said, "I… er… am now… _expecting_."

Only Twilight understood what Sunset had meant by that; everyone else was now confused.

"Uh, expecting _what_?" questioned Rainbow, tapping the side of her head with her finger. "A late Christmas gift or something?"

Sunset shook her head, and she replied, "Me and Jack are… expecting… a child together."

Once she said that, all of her friends quickly became aware of what Sunset was implying, except for a still-confused Rainbow. "Like for adoption or-"

" _Sunset Shimmer!_ " cried Pinkie, who was now standing in front of her, with a glaring expression. "Do you mean to _tell us_ that _you..._ are having… a _baby_?"

Too surprised and nervous to speak, Sunset quickly nodded her head, and Pinkie said, "Then, that only means one thing…" Her frown suddenly turned into a huge smile. _"We get to throw you a baby shower party!_ _Ohhh, this is so exciting - we could do all sorts of…"_

Before Pinkie could go on and on with what could happen at a baby shower, a surprised Rainbow said, " _Whoa, whoa, whoa!_ So, you're _pregnant_?"

" _That's_ what she's been trying to tell us, ya airhead," replied Applejack. "Still, can't say I'm surprised you didn't know since you don't got no siblings like me, Twi, Fluttershy, and Rarity."

As the two of them started to argue with each other, Sunset became surprised - and relieved - that her friends hadn't reacted in a negative way, and this was quickly noticed by Rarity.

"We aren't upset or anything like that, Sunset… it's just… well, like you said, unexpected."

 _She does have a point there,_ thought Sunset, while Twilight was finally able to speak.

"How did Jack react when he found out?"

Pausing her argument with Applejack, Rainbow said, "Well, it couldn't have been terrible since she's standing in front of us, and is still wearing the ring he ga - wait a second…" She took a closer look at Sunset's left ring finger, which now wore two beautiful rings. "Is that a…"

"My _God,_ that ring is _gorgeous_!" interrupted Rarity, who had also noticed it. "Did he ask you the big question, as well?"

"Wait, _what_?" cried a surprised Twilight.

"You mean you're both _expecting_ and _engaged_?" said Fluttershy.

A sheepish Sunset nodded her head.

" _Whoo-hoo!_ That means a baby shower _and_ a pre-wedding party!" shouted an excited Pinkie, with tons of fun ideas now swirling around inside of her head.

"Whoa, hold up now, let's back it up a lil' bit," said Applejack, remembering what Rainbow had first asked. "So, what happened when Jack found out that you two were, um, gonna be havin' a baby?"

* * *

 _Flashback - The Night Before_

With the pregnancy test device still in her hands, Sunset let out a sigh, and she said, _"Jack, I… I think… I'm pregnant."_

After hearing Sunset say those words to her, Jack had momentarily found himself unable to respond, and was just looking at her with a slight gape of his mouth.

 _Well, no anger is definitely a good sign,_ thought Sunset, clearing her throat before continuing to talk. "I know this… isn't something we pla-"

"This. Is. _[BEEP]-ing_ _ **awesome**_ _!"_ yelled Jack, taking his girlfriend completely by surprise, and the next thing she knew, he was lifting her up in his arms, spinning around in a circle while laughing with joy.

Before she could even say anything, Jack gave her a deep, passionate kiss on her lips, and then, he pulled away with a wide, toothy grin on his face. "Best start to a new year _ever_!"

"Y-you mean that… you aren't upse-" said Sunset, who was interrupted by Jack giving her another kiss.

"Hell no, I'm not upset, love!" replied her excited boyfriend. "This is freakin' fantastic, I've always _wanted_ to be a father!"

And, because he couldn't find anything else to say, Jack continued on with passionately kissing Sunset, but after a while, the bacon-haired teenager found herself pushing him away just a little.

"Jack, I'm glad and relieved that you-"

"Oh, _[BEEP], hold on a sec,"_ exclaimed Jack, setting the expectant teenager gently down on the bed while he got down on one knee, and Sunset's heart began to beat faster.

 _He isn't going to… actually… right now, is he?_

"Sunset… love… my beautiful goddess…" He then revealed to her a ring box, and Sunset found her eyes starting to water up. "I may not have some kind of well-thought out speech that's been prepared for when it was the right time to do this, but I can't think of any other moment that is more perfect than right now to ask you this one important question."

Jack opened up the box, revealing a very beautiful and sparkling engagement ring that matched perfectly with the promise ring already on her finger, and it was now Sunset's turn to be speechless as he asked, "Will you marry me?"

No words whatsoever were able to come out of her, so a teary-eyed Sunset just nodded _Yes_ to Jack, whose smile grew even wider as he placed the ring on her, and then, he said, "Time to celebrate!"

"Wha-" Sunset was about to ask him what he meant by that, but she quickly got her answer from Jack resuming their make-out session, and while Sunset's hands went to the sides of his head, Jack placed his around her waist, followed by holding onto the bottom of her shirt so that he could lift it up over-

* * *

" _Gaaahh! T.M.I., Sunset, sheesh!"_ cried Rainbow, waving her arms around in order to stop Sunset from continuing so she could avoid seeing an unpleasant image in her mind, and the sheepish teenager gave her an apologetic look. "No _wonder_ you're pregnant - _ow!_ What, it's _true_ , ain't it?"

"So, who else knows about you being… _um_ …" Fluttershy tapped her own stomach for a little bit, and Sunset made a gesture to everyone around her, but before the yellow-skinned teenager could speak, they all heard the familiar voice of Jack yelling from down below.

" _In your [BEEP]-ing face, Sentry!"_

Sunset immediately let out a groan, and placed the palm of her right hand against her forehead. "I told him _not_ to do this."


End file.
